The Bhutanese legend of the origin of
the Yak.
(as retold from memory by Dan
Shapiro)

Some time ago (in 1986) I visited the Kingdom of Bhutan for a trek in the
Bhutanese Himalayas. Deep in the high country our guide, Purba Dorji, told
me this story.

Long ago and far away in the land of India, lived two sister water
buffalos. They were content, grazing on grass as water buffalos do, until
one of them said, "Sister, I have heard the grass in the Himalayas is much
greener and much better than the grass we are eating here. If you go and
fetch some for us, I will wait here and be very grateful on your return."
The other sister accepted this proposition and left for the long journey.
Days, months, and years went by, but the sister never returned. She had
found the grass in the Himalayas so tasty (and the terrain so beautiful)
that she grew a long coat of wool and decided to stay in the mountains.
And so, this story explains two things: the origin of yaks, and the reason
why water buffalo crane their necks and peer into the distance. They are
still waiting for their sister to return.